Design007 Magazine

Design007-Jun2018

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JUNE 2018 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 9
Andy Shaughnessy is managing
editor of
Design007 Magazine. He
has been covering PCB design for
18 years. He can be reached
by clicking here.
and a good 3D EDA tool is a requirement for
laying out multiple PCBs today.
Fortunately, most of the EDA tools of today
have multi-board design capabilities, and 3D
functionality plays a big role. Interconnect man-
agement, data management, concurrent design,
and ECAD-MCAD co-design functions also help
bring multi-board design into the mainstream.
For our June issue, we have a variety of fea-
tures that are chock-full of multi-board design
information. In our first interview, Dave Wiens
of Mentor discusses multi-board design tech-
niques, from a 30,000-foot view down to a
nuts-and-bolts board level, including the vari-
ous trade-offs that occur throughout the design
cycle. Zuken's Bob Potock provides a techni-
cal article on the 3D convergence of multi-
board PCB and IC packaging design, and the
importance of ECAD and MCAD collaboration.
Finally, we interviewed Ben Jordan of Altium,
who breaks down many of the challenges
related to multi-board design, and some of the
techniques that can simplify complex designs.
As Ben says, "It's not a complicated concept."
From our monthly contributors, we have
Barry Olney of In-Circuit Design who explains
DDR3 and DDR4 fly-by topology termination
and routing, while John Coonrod of Rogers
Corporation discusses exceptions designers
might encounter when comparing material
data sheets. And Jade Bridges of Electrolube
shines a spotlight on the selection of thermal
management materials.
To wrap things up, we have an article from
Chang Fei Yee of Keysight Technologies that
outlines the best methods for achieving signal
integrity during layer transition in high-speed
boards.
As we head into the summer, take the time
to download a PDF of Design007 Magazine to
read on the beach. We'll keep bringing you all
of the design news and technical information
that you need!
DESIGN007
A Laser that Can
Smell like a Hound
University of Adelaide researchers have created a
laser that can "smell" different gases within a sample.
Applications for the new device lie not just in environ-
mental monitoring and detecting industrial contamina-
tion, but may eventually be used to diagnose disease
by
"smelling" the breath.
The researchers liken the ability of the laser to differ-
entiate between different gas compounds in a sample
to the sensitive nose of a bloodhound. But rather than
smell, the device uses patterns of light absorption to
measure the composition of the sample.
From the University's Institute for Photonics and
Advanced Sensing (IPAS), the researchers report in the
journal Physical Review Applied that the laser can
measure the amount of carbon dioxide in a gas sample
in under one second, with high accuracy and precision.
"The ability to rapidly measure gas composition to
such high accuracy is cutting edge," says lead author
Sarah Scholten, PhD candidate.
The device exploits a Nobel-prize winning technol
-
ogy, developed by US and German scientists, called
an "optical
frequency comb." This laser comb gener-
ates millions of different light frequencies or colours at
once.
The researchers
pass this special light through a
sample of gas where each gas molecule absorbs a dis
-
tinctive set of colours. The pattern of light absorption
is a unique fingerprint of
the gas composition of the
sample.
"This first work aims at atmospheric monitoring,
however, the technique is broadly applicable and offers
an avenue for near-universal concentration measure
-
ments," says Dr. Chris Perrella, postdoctoral fellow.